Gary W

One of our favorites! We still enjoy playing.

Carter WCD 2-Barrel Carburetor Rebuild / Service Procedure: A Step - By - Step photo essay Part Two: Cleaning and Evaluating all parts and Rebuild Kits. Preparing for rebuild. (2) At this point, all the small parts are cleaned and polished. The throttle shaft is renovated and all cleaned up. Continuing.......... Restore the Body Flange: After scrubbing, then wire wheeling, then an hour in an ultrasonic cleaner and a final overnight in Rid-O-Rust, the flange finally came out nice and clean! I scrubbed it with acetone in preparation for painting. I used my punch kit to punch blue tape circles to fit over all the openings and orifices. Then a nice coat of black and let it dry completely. The photo on the right you can see the idle ports. The Body Flange is ready to be rebuilt. Chase the fuel feed in the Bowl Lid to clean and restore the threads: The threads where the fuel feed screws into were a mess. I chased the threads with a 1/8 NPT 27 tap. Easy in, just enough to chase the threads. Check fit with the fuel fitting. OK! Restore the Plunger Assembly: Before and After. I used Jon's plunger from his rebuild kit with the original spring and spring retainer. Nice! Final check of all the major components: All openings and ports were blown through with compressed air. I also used fine wire and welding tip cleaners to get into all the smaller openings. The main components all cleaned up on the bench and looking pretty good at this point! First mock up of the major components just sitting together. Quite a transformation already. Comparison of the smaller parts to the rebuild kits: I found this unopened, NOS Carter Repair Parts Package on eBay. This one was specific for the 608S - 608SA. Inside is four envelopes and a bunch of other parts. Here's the kit laid out. Notice the plunger at the bottom. It's completely dry rotted BUT the spring and retainer were good. Every gasket is too dried out to use. Up close of the parts enclosed in the envelopes. I used every one of these parts in the rebuild. Close-up of the Carter NOS metering rods (standard) and the Metering Rod jet and gasket assembly. Part numbers stamped right on the parts. Jon's rebuild kit has everything included. I used every gasket, the plunger, the spring... Quality kit. Organize all the parts for the rebuild: I followed the Carter Service procedure and organized all the parts for the rebuild the way the manual suggests: 8. Group all parts controlling gasoline level. 9. Group all parts controlling idle operation. 10. Group all parts controlling high speed operation. 11. Group all parts controlling pump operation. 12. Group all parts controlling choke operation. 13. Group all parts controlling switch operation. Restoration notes here: All the brass parts were hand polished on the bench simply to make good electrical contact. I used the wire wheel on the steel parts The Bakelite parts were polished using my automobile polish by hand also. Go easy on these parts so nothing gets ruined. That concludes the cleaning portion of the restoration.. Next I'll start the rebuild, one component at a time. Gary

Carter WCD 2-Barrel Carburetor Rebuild / Service Procedure: A Step - By - Step photo essay Part Two: Cleaning and Evaluating all parts and Rebuild Kits. Preparing for rebuild. (1) When you read the Carter Service Procedure, step 7 says: "Wash all parts in clean gasoline except coil and housing assembly, cork pieces and switch parts. Blow out all passages with compressed air and scrape carbon from bores of flange and replace all worn or damaged parts." It then goes immediately to step 8 which is the reassembly. I took a little more time and effort cleaning all the parts. I don't want to bore you with all the gory details, but I will document all the steps I took to get all the parts as nice as I could get them. I kept all the parts with the four major components together. I soaked all the major parts in hot water and used Dawn Platinum with a toothbrush to get most of the heavy grime off the castings. This is the air horn going through the scrubbing process. I ran a paper towel through the cylinder to be sure no residual grease was stuck in there. I used my wire wheel to give the castings a very nice "satin" sheen. It also got rid of the rest of the outside crud. The air horn before and after. Here is a variety of parts before and after. I did not use the wire wheel on the soft brass parts. They got buffed with a cotton wheel and jewelers rouge. Air horn and choke parts after cleaning up. Dust cover after wire wheel. Cam trip lever, part # 14-275 with the Carter trademark now visible. Time and patience every small part was cleaned up. I used simichrome polish on the float. Just a buffing cloth on the bench. No machine polish as I was afraid it would be ruined if the wheel caught it. Some carburetor jewelry! Another photo of the parts getting ready for the rebuild. The throttle shaft shows the milled groove that the steel ball fits in to work the starter switch. Throttle shaft all cleaned up. Any broken throttle valve screws were removed, any bends that were out of whack were bent back into shape.

Carter WCD 2-Barrel Carburetor Rebuild / Service Procedure: A Step - By - Step photo essay ...continuing the Disassembly phase 11. Disassemble the Body Flange: The Body Flange separated from the Body (Bowl) and Body Flange gasket removed. Disassembly starts by removing the Carter Carstarter starting switch assembly and its internal components. *Note: The starting switch MUST be removed completely before attempting to remove the throttle shaft. There is a steel ball that rests in a groove milled into the throttle shaft and will prevent you from sliding the throttle shaft out. 11A. Remove the terminal cap attaching screw to release the terminal cap hold down clip. 11B. Remove the switch terminal cap assembly with the switch terminal screws and lock washers attached. 11C. Remove the switch return spring from the Bakelite switch terminal cap assembly. 11D. Remove the Bakelite switch guide block. The switch guide block is an assembly of five different parts: 1. The switch return spring. It sits flush on the switch return spring washer (2) and is responsible for breaking electrical contact. 2. The switch return spring washer. This is a small round washer with a square hole in the middle that sits atop the "W"-shaped switch contact spring.(3) (Don't confuse it with the shims) 3. The switch contact spring (brass part shaped like the letter "W" that completes the electrical circuit to your solenoid / starter) 4. The switch contact spring shims. These are very important as they set the degree of throttle opening at which electrical contact is made by adjusting the height of the switch contact spring. (3) 5. The Bakelite switch guide block itself. 11E. Remove the switch plunger and the steel switch ball from the flange casting. 11F. Remove the switch strainer retainer ring and the mesh switch strainer. (Or, what's left of it) 11G. Set all those Carter Carstarter starter switch parts aside for cleaning. 11H. Remove the vacuum fitting. It's a 1/8" O.D. tube, 5/16-24 threaded double compression brass sleeve nut. Use a 5/16 wrench. 11I. Remove the brass fitting from the flange that the vacuum line compression nut threads into. Use a 7/16 wrench. 11J. Remove both idle air adjustment screws and springs. 11K. Remove both idle port rivet plugs. (Large copper plugs) 11L. Remove the four throttle valve attaching screws freeing the throttle valves from the throttle shaft assembly. **NOTE: Always file or grind off the peened area of the back side of the screws before attempting to unscrew them. 11M. Remove both throttle valves. Note the position of the (c) which is visible from the manifold side. It matters on rebuild. 11N. Remove the throttle shaft arm screw, washer and throttle shaft arm. This took a lot of heat and penetrant to finally break free. The throttle shaft sits proud of the casting. 11O. I screwed the throttle shaft arm screw back in so I could gently tap on it to start removing the throttle shaft. (Trying not to booger up the threads in the brass throttle shaft.) 11P. Withdraw the entire throttle shaft assembly from the flange. I gently tapped on the screw head until the shaft was flush. Then rotating back and forth it came free. 11Q. Remove the throttle shaft centering screw from the flange. **NOTE 608S only. Not used on the 608SA model. A word about the throttle shafts used in the 608S and 608SA carburetors. These units are identical except for the flange assembly and throttle shafts used: 608S: Uses flange 1-333S, grooved throttle shaft/lever assembly 3-404S, throttle centering screw 101-69 608SA: Uses flange 1-547S, ungrooved throttle shaft/lever assembly 3-594S, throttle shaft retaining ring 63-118 all other parts used on the build correlate exactly. 11R. Remove the fast idle cam attaching screw and the fast idle cam assembly. Includes the cam trip lever. The last few steps are breaking down the throttle shaft assembly for easier cleaning and restoration: 11S. Remove both the throttle lever adjustment screw (idle adjustment screw) and the fast idle adjustment screw. 11T. Remove the throttle flex spring. This frees up the throttle shaft dog and collar. 11U. Remove the throttle shaft dog and collar for better cleaning of the shaft. 11V. The throttle shaft is now stripped clean and ready for cleaning, polishing.... The Body Flange and its components are ready for cleaning and restoring. Next up is part 2.. Cleaning and evaluating all the parts in preparation for the rebuild.

Carter WCD 2-Barrel Carburetor Rebuild / Service Procedure: A Step - By - Step photo essay ...continuing the Disassembly phase 10. Disassemble the Bowl (Body): Inside the Bowl separated from the flange below and the lid above. 10A. The metering rod jets are located on either side of the vacumeter piston cylinder. Close up in the photo on the right. 10B. Remove the metering rod jets and gaskets with a flat blade screwdriver. 10C. Close up photo of the metering rod jets and gaskets as removed. 10D. Remove the vacumeter piston spring. 10E. Remove both silver colored nozzle passage rivet plugs. 10F. Remove the center rivet plug. 10G. Remove the fuel sight plug. No gasket here. These are the only parts from the Bowl The Bowl (Body) and its components are ready for cleaning. Good start for tonight. I'll continue with the disassembly of the Body Flange tomorrow night. Gary

Carter WCD 2-Barrel Carburetor Rebuild / Service Procedure: A Step - By - Step photo essay ...continuing the Disassembly phase 9. Disassemble the Bowl Cover Assembly: part two 9W. Turn the vacumeter piston 90 degrees and remove the piston from the vacumeter piston link. 9X. Once the vacumeter piston is removed, this is the presentation. 9Y. Carefully lift out the vacumeter piston link with metering rods and metering rod spring attached. 9Z. Carefully remove the metering rods from the vacumeter piston link, not upsetting the fine metering rod spring. 9AA. Guide one leg of the metering rod spring through the center hole and gently ease it our of the vacumeter piston link. Carefully protect the spring and place it aside for safe keeping. (Again, I kept it stuck to a piece of blue tape) 9BB. The metering rods, metering rod spring and the vacumeter piston link are separated. 9CC. Carefully remove both low speed jets with a 1/4" spinner. NO gaskets here. 9DD. Remove the pump plunger guide retaining screw. 9EE. Remove the pump plunger guide. 9FF. **Note** I used the open slot in the side of the casting to get it started. 9GG. Withdraw the pump plunger assembly. Save this entire assembly! It will be restored using a new plunger from the rebuild kit BUT you will re-use the original spring and spring retainer. 9HH. Remove the lower pump spring. These are the accelerator pump parts. 9II. Remove the pump intake ball and retainer. I used a very fine punch from underneath against the steel ball. The Bowl Cover Assembly and its components are ready for cleaning. Next post will disassemble the Body (Bowl)

Carter WCD 2-Barrel Carburetor Rebuild / Service Procedure: A Step - By - Step photo essay ...continuing the Disassembly phase 9. Disassemble the Bowl Cover Assembly: (This part is in two separate posts as there are a lot of parts under that lid and the photo limit will be exceeded) Underside of the Bowl Cover Assembly as removed before disassembly. 9A. Start with the "float circuit". These are the parts that control gasoline level. 9B. Push our or gently punch out the float lever hinge pin. 9C. Remove the float and lever assembly with needle attached by the small wire. 9D. Remove the needle seat with the needle seat gasket using a large flat blade screwdriver. 9E. Remove the fuel strainer nut and gasket assembly with a 3/4" wrench. 9F. Pull out the brass mesh bowl cover strainer. (Mine came out with the nut) Next, we'll remove the pump jet and housing assembly. 9G. Remove the two 1/2" length pump jet attaching screws and lock washers to free the pump jet and housing assembly. 9H. Remove the pump jet and housing assembly. 9I. Remove the air horn gasket. (Or, in this case, what's left of it!) The remaining disassembly of the Bowl Cover is in no particular order, but here is my step-by-step: 9J. Remove the pump discharge passage plug and gasket assembly by unscrewing it. 9K. Remove the pump discharge check plug by unscrewing it. No gasket here. 9L. Once the pump discharge check plug is removed, tip the bowl cover over and the pump check needle will slide out of the passage cylinder. It comes out pointy side up. 9M. Remove the pump strainer. It's a press fit. 9N. Remove two 3/8" dust cover attaching screws and lock washers to release the dust cover. 9O. Remove the single metering rod arm clamp screw from the metering rod arm, freeing it from the countershaft assembly. 9P. Remove the larger size pin spring clip from outside the pump countershaft. 9Q. Tap out the pump operating lever / countershaft assembly while holding the metering rod arm in place. The countershaft will slip through. 9R. Remove the pin spring from the upper end of the pump connection link. 9S. Separate the pump connection link from the metering rod arm and the pump plunger rod. 9T. Remove the metering rod arm. 9U. Remove the pump connection link. 9V. These are the parts on the pump operating lever and countershaft assembly. Next post will finish the bowl lid disassembly.

Carter WCD 2-Barrel Carburetor Rebuild / Service Procedure: A Step - By - Step photo essay ...continuing the Disassembly phase 8. Disassemble the Air Horn / Climactic Control / Choke Assembly: Top view of the Air Horn Assembly prior to disassembly. 8A. Remove or loosen the choke lever clamp screw and choke lever clamp nut. 8B. Remove the choke lever from the choke shaft assembly. 8C. Remove both choke valve attaching screws. 8D. Remove the choke valve. 8E. Remove three 1/4" coil housing attaching screws and coil housing retainers together. 8F. Remove the thermostatic coil and housing assembly. 8G. Remove the coil housing gasket. 8H. Remove the coil housing baffle plate. 8I. Push (or punch) the choke piston (attached to the choke piston lever) into the thermostat chamber. 8J. As the choke piston moves, the choke shaft will rotate until the choke piston clears its operating cylinder. 8K. When the choke piston is clear of its cylinder, gently tap the choke shaft assembly free. The Air Horn and its components are completely disassembled and ready for further cleaning and restoration. Next post... disassembly of the bowl cover assembly.

Carter WCD 2-Barrel Carburetor Rebuild / Service Procedure: A Step - By - Step photo essay PART ONE: DISASSEMBLY 1. Remove the carburetor from the engine 2. Drain out all the fuel 3. Remove the Fast Idle Connector Rod: 3A. Remove the pin spring from the fast idle connector rod at the fast idle cam trip lever and pull the rod free at its lower end. 3B. Rotate the upper end of the fast idle connector rod until the upset aligns with the elongated hole in the choke lever. 3C. Free the fast idle connector rod from the choke lever and screw assembly and from the carburetor completely. 4. Remove the Throttle Connector Rod: 4A. Remove the throttle connector rod spring retainer, spring and washer. Keep these small parts safe. (I stuck them to a piece of blue tape) 4B. Free the throttle connector rod from the throttle shaft arm at the base of the carburetor. 4C. Remove the pin spring from the throttle connector rod at the pump operating lever on the upper end of the rod. 4D. Free the throttle connector rod from the carburetor. Close up of the crusty spring and spring retainer. Missing: washer. The next few steps separate the carburetor into its four main components. 5. Remove Air Horn / Climactic Control Assembly with all parts attached: Following along with the Carter Service procedure. 5A. Remove the four 1" length air horn attaching screws and lock washers. 5B. Lift the air horn assembly free from the bowl cover assembly. The Air Horn Assembly is now ready for further disassembly and cleaning. Place it aside for now. 6. Remove the Bowl Cover And Strainer Assembly with all parts attached: From the manual. 6A. Remove the six 9/16" length bowl cover attaching screws and lock washers. 6B. The screw directly above the Carter carstarter starter switch holds the starter switch cable clip. 6C. One of the other rear screws holds the brass data tag. (608S) 6D. Carefully begin to lift the bowl cover assembly free from the bowl. 6E. Be careful to lift the lid straight up to protect the metering rods and the brass float. It all comes out together. 6F. The vacumeter piston is also attached. Mine required a penetrant to loosen it enough to finally come out. 6G. Notice also the bowl cover gasket comes out attached as well. 6H. The Bowl Cover and Strainer Assembly is now ready for further disassembly and cleaning. Place it aside for now. 7. Separate the Main Body (Bowl) Assembly from the Body Flange / Starter Switch Assembly: From the Carter procedure sheet. 7A. Flip carburetor over so the manifold side is facing up. 7B. Remove the four 3/4" length body flange attaching screws and lock washers. 7C. Separate the body flange assembly from the main body assembly. 7D. Remove the body flange gasket. 7E. The Body Flange / Starter Switch Assembly and the Main Body (Bowl) are ready for further disassembly and cleaning. At this point you have your carburetor separated into its four main components. The next posts will dive into the disassembly of each component down to their smaller parts.

Carter WCD 2-Barrel Carburetor Rebuild / Service Procedure: A Step - By - Step photo essay This is the first installment of my step-by-step photographic guide to disassembly, cleaning, rebuilding and adjusting a Carter WCD 2-barrel carburetor. The Carter carburetor I'm rebuilding is a 608S, 608SA which was used on the 1946 and 1947 Series 40 and Series 50. I run the 608S on my 1937 Special and it is a smooth running, powerful unit. So I decided to rebuild another as a spare. I used all original Carter Service manuals to complete the restoration in a logical fashion, making changes as needed to help explain various steps. I also tried to use the Carter nomenclature for all the parts (in bold), so anyone using these notes as a guide can easily look up parts by their proper names. After reading many original service sheets for the multiple WCD models, I think this will help anyone looking to take on this job. Whether looking to do a full, complete rebuild or simply changing gaskets and cleaning out the crud for the new driving season, I've realized that no matter what model WCD you have, the service procedure pretty much follows the same pattern. The major differences seem to be the adjustments of the various components once you are finished. My goal is to give you insight to the guts of these units and hopefully remove any of the internal mysteries so you can tackle your project. Over the next few posts, I'll detail step by step how I made this transition. I did have to purchase a wreck on eBay just to get a starter switch assembly that I could restore as this one came to my from the hull of the Titanic. Enough introduction! Next post begins the restoration.

When I finished my '37 special, Jon recommended I swap out my original Marvel for a Carter 608S. Best move I ever made. The starter switch and the choke are now integral to the carburetor instead of the separate units as used originally. The Carter performs beautifully and I have had no issues at all. Over this past winter, I restored an old 608S so I have a backup. I used Jon's rebuild kit and a Carter rebuild kit and went through every single piece of the carburetor. I fully documented the entire procedure and I am planning to post here next week of the step-by-step. I think it will be very helpful for anyone who is contemplating a full rebuild or just wants to change the gaskets and freshen up the innards. It's good to have an understanding of what these units look like inside and it removes a lot of the mystery. I followed the Carter service procedures and everything worked out nice. Couple teaser photos! I used Jon's rebuild kit for the 608S And I used a lot of these original Carter parts in an NOS Repair Parts Package. I cleaned and cleaned everything. wire wheeled things that I could polished the softer metal parts Organized according to the Carter rebuild manual. Kept all my parts organized, swapped out old parts for new parts, used all new gaskets And finished in about two weeks. So, I'll post my entire step-by-step in the coming week. Gary

I replaced my oil pump in my '37 after about 850 miles. I had my oil pump rebuilt by EGGE in California, but I'm sure there are many places that do this work. It has made all the difference in the world. She holds 45 pounds all day, and even hot, sitting at a red light it drops to around 30. I'm very happy I replaced it. Here's the link:

My vacuum advance unit has this set up: Assembled. The 1/8" tubing goes through to seat into the vacuum advance unit 5/16" outer nut secures it in place Here you can see how much the 1/8" tube protrudes into the vacuum advance unit The opening accepts the 1/8" tube down in there. I thought this was a compression-type fitting to hold the tube secure and create a tight vacuum The O.D. of the tube is 1/8" from the carburetor to the vacuum advance. Gary

Matt I've used a port-a-power in many Model "A" engine installations to just slightly expand the frame to allow the mounts to settle into position.

The float and needle can get stuck just having the carburetor sitting around for a while. The fuel gums up and can "glue" the float to the bowl. Congratulations Matt... you'll have her dialed in soon!

When I restored my Model 48, Le Baron Bonney used that 4411 code to direct the fabrication of the interior panels.

Be sure your GAV inside the car is not too wide open, or shut down. My "A"'s run with the GAV 1/4 turn open. I still follow the book when I start the cars. I open the dash adjuster one full turn (GAV) Step on the starter Pull choke momentarily She starts right up at this point Advance the spark Retard the throttle to a faster than normal idle Close down the GAV (dash adjuster) to 1/4 open After a couple minutes of warming up, retard the throttle down and she's ready to go. If you have vacuum wipers, be sure you are not pulling in air through a worn vacuum hose Check your idle adjusting screw on the carburetor. There will be a sweet spot between too closed off and too far open. Check the point gap Check your spark plug gaps Check your coil

Here is my discussion on installing my robe rails. The Model 48 has a split folding seat, so it has two smaller robe rails instead of one longer one. But the installation is the same. If you need help with fabrics, rear shade, tassels.... Marcus is really great. He may have the solution for you:

When I did my '37, all my knobs and plastic parts were cracked, stained, broken, missing...... in need of replacement. I removed all the plastic knobs from the handles. (Some pulled off, others required breaking them off.) I sent the handles out to Paul's Chrome. They re-chromed everything and the end still spins. I painted the recesses black, then reinstalled the new replacement knobs using the vice and silicone to help them slip on. Some of the knobs and handles as removed from the car during the teardown phase. The parts when they returned from Paul's Chrome. The stud still freely turns. This was painting the recesses. With a couple towels for protection, and silicone to add slipperiness, I slowly and steadily applied pressure in the vice Almost home, the new knob takes it place Here's the finished part ready to be installed in the car.

I ran ground cables to a central chassis "hub" and directly to the starter. It's worth the extra effort to be sure your lights are bright, the starter spins effortlessly and you eliminate a lot of those pesky electrical gremlins. In my '37 Buick, I used 2 2-0 cables off the battery (-) to ground. Then a large 4-0 cable from the positive terminal to the starter. Here's a hand written schematic of my starter circuit. From the "frame ground" hub, I ran separate ground wires to the fuel sender at the tank, the accessory fuel pump, the tail lamps. Up front, I grounded the headlamp sockets, fender lamps, fog lamps, dash... All my separate ground wires are 12g wrapped in period correct conduit, soldered ends. In the car, the optima sits snugly at an angle in the box. You can see the double ground wires off the (-) post. One cable bolts to clean metal "hub" (above the chassis) and the separate ground wires feed off that bolt to their destinations. The second ground cable is attached to the starter, and another braided ground strap runs from that bolt over to the frame. Heavy cables, clean connections, good grounds, strong battery... You're 6V system should work as originally designed.

Here's a couple photos of my '37 special:

Auldon: I swapped out my original Marvel for a CARTER 608S in my '37 Special and never looked back! Starts quick, runs smooth and strong. There are a couple things you have to do to make the conversion, but nothing overly complicated! Follow along with my notes below. I think you'll find the conversion is fairly easy: Just touch the arrow in the upper right corner: Or go straight to the conversion without the conversation leading up to it. (Although the lead up is part of the learning curve!)

I used the 90 degree boots on each plug, made sure to run each wire nice and parallel, trying to avoid them bunching over each other. There is a small metal clip under the spark cover that should reduce chafing where the wires exit. And there is just enough room to lay them out evenly You can see how the wires exit without any upward pressure to chafe against the cover.

Those photos look like a chewed up cotter pin. You can release your gear shift lever and check those three springs are intact. A main center spring around the base of the gearshift lever and one spring in each of the retaining "clamshells" I had to replace this one These side clamshells also have a spring in them. If I remember correctly, I think there is something safety wired inside the transmission that you can see when the lid is removed.

I'll add my tear down also!